Ep.263 – Swinging Through History: How Pitfall! Became the First Great Platformer
Ep.263 – Swinging Through History: How Pitfall! Became the First Great PlatformerDescription
In 1982, David Crane pushed the Atari 2600 to its limits with only four kilobytes of memory, creating Pitfall!, a jungle adventure that became one of the system’s best-sellers. Our conversation traces Crane’s journey from Atari to co-founding Activision, his experiments that led to the iconic “running man” sprite, and the algorithm that generated 255 screens on the fly. We highlight how Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saturday cartoons, and clever coding shaped Pitfall Harry’s swings on vines, leaps across crocodiles, and treasure hunts. We also revisit its commercial success, Jack Black’s cameo in a TV ad, and the technical marvel of Pitfall II: Lost Caverns. Though later revivals varied, the original proved consoles could deliver real adventures. Join us as we revisit the leap that defined platforming on today’s trip down Memory Card Lane.
United States
